What if you won the Mega Millions?

The lottery irritates me. This is probably irrational, but I suspect it stems from my anti-gambling mentality (well, except for that stint at the Racino).

I am so anti-lottery that I made my colleague take me off the office-wide email pool. It’s not that I think I’m unlucky, but I’m also not lucky, or wasteful (and I don’t come to work to meet my bookie).

Brian and Chrissy are less sour on the whole thing, so this morning we talked about the lottery — what we’d do if we won (of course Brian had to jab me on that one), and how much money it would take for us to live comfortably for life, without working.

68 Responses

In no particular order:
– I would pay off our house.
– Make some renovations like a paved driveway and garage with a loft.
– Retire.
– Put a lot of it in savings so I can continue living off of it.
– Travel here and there.
– Pay off my car or maybe get an electric car.
– Give some to our immediate family and close friends.
– Put money aside for our kids for college.
– Work part time when my kids are in school so I have something to do.

I also hate gambling and have little to no sympathy who have a “gambling problem.” Like smoking, It’s a self inflicted vice so I just can’t cry over someone blowing their paycheck in the Racino rather than paying their mortgage.

For $500 million, I’ll buy a ticket. ONE ticket. My wife and 4 kids deserve that type of comfort. I’d quit my job, build our dream house (in our current town so the kids don’t have to change schools), pay a vicious lawyer to get full custody of my daughter and live comfortably forever.

I’d quit my job, buy an Island where I can smoke without getting harassed. I’d have no shoes, no shirts, no rules on my island, I’d buy a really fast boat and play Jimmy Buffet songs all day long. I’d buy a few cars for a few family members and friends.
I’d also donate money to Albany Med , Ronald McDonald House and the CP center. I can dream can’t I ?

Oh goodness. I couldn’t even imagine that type of money!
I would:
1. pay off my house
2. pay off any other bills
3. Give money to our families
4. Travel
5. Put aside money for my kids and their college educations
6. Save the rest of it

the UKMA with a half a billion dollars at his disposal? (look at em tremble at the mere thought!) why Id drink a lot, and chase women, buy a lot of nice clothes, go to a lot of events and spend a lot of time in NYC. WHAT I USUALLY DO!!!! So for me nothing would change!:)

Right now, I work three jobs, so I’d quit two of them and keep the job I love best! Then I’d build my dream house, pay off my student loan, take very nice vacations more frequently, simply save the majority of the money so I could live off of it. Life would not change drastically, just more vacations, but still working full time.

Also, I would start a scholarship at my alma matter and pay off my parents house and set them up for the rest of their lives so they don’t have to worry about a nursing home (God forbid it would get to that!) They shouldn’t have to worry about a thing in 20 years when they are in their 80’s.

I’d do the usual – pay off house, help family and friends — but I like thinking about all the good you could do and all the wonderful causes you could help fund with that kind of money. It’s fun to think about.

So I’d probably take home $250 million after taxes. I’d:
1) Pay off all my debt
2) Give half of what’s left to charities I think are worthwhile. (Because I think its the right thing to do and because I believe in karma — that much good fortune needs to be returned to the universe.)
3) Set up a trust fund with whatever is left, with the hope that I could live comfortably for the rest of my life off the interest.
4) Travel.

• Pay off student loans
• Pay off car loan
• Pay off my brother’s student loans
• Pay my brother’s testing fees so he can actually have a better chance at getting a real job he went to school for
• Buy my mother a working car and a cell phone (she really needs both, it’s getting to be a hassle!
• Pay off my significant other’s student loans, because even if we don’t end up together, no one deserves to be in debt like that.

Most importantly:
• Hire a lawyer, because I know everyone will be after my money now
• Hire a financial person to deal with my money. I suspect I’ll buy a few things, but I’ve heard of people blowing through money and I don’t want to do that.

How could you quit your job? That money doesn’t last forever, you know. Besides, I have to be doing something. I went to school for a reason!

I’d keep working, because I’d be bored, but I’d take an awful lot of vacations, donate a lot, buy a house and a boat, pay off my brother and SIL’s mortgage, put aside a lot of money for my nephew, buy my mom a brand new Volvo, give some to my dad although I’m sure he would donate a lot of it, and save the rest.

I very rarely buy a lotto ticket – maybe 12-15 a year. I did purchase one Mega Millions for this Friday’s drawing.

If I did win I would contact our attorney and accountant and then I would:
1. Pay off our two son’s mortgages and car loans. Give them money.
2. Buy third son a home and new car. Give him money.
3. Set up college accounts for both grandchildren.
4. Donate to our church, town library, and school district.
5. Book a cruise for the entire family.
6. Enjoy the rest with my spouse!

Take care of my Mother and Myself FIRST!
Buy that small Adirondack town I love so much.
Help out my family, friends & co-workers…the nice ones…;-)
Donate to Make a Wish & Humane Society…..others to be decided.
Travel
Have my own personal hairdresser to do my hair EVERYDAY!!!
Built a house, have an AWESOME garden in my awesome backyard.

OH MY…..I could go on and on……it’s nice to have a little dream & wouldn’t it be nice if it came true on 3/30 :-)

I participate just because it can be fun to talk about dreams and what you would buy and do.
Like would we build the house and garage (anyone remember that “Justification for Higher Education” poster with the 7 bay garage) first or would I head to Langan, Keeler and the DuPont Registry to select its contents…..hmmm, decisions, decisions ;)

I would quit my job immediately… as would my husband, we would buy several hundred (if not thousands of) acres of land half way down the east coast, build a reasonably sized but ridiculously lavish home with a garage large enough to fit our 9 ‘new’ classic cars and motorcycles. We would then have maids, a personal chef and trainer to help us live a healthy and stress free life for the next 100 years… we would tip $1,000 at any podunk restaurant we went to… $23 dollar breakfast tab at Waffle House… here’s your $1,000 tip… and of course we would take care of our great great great great great grandchildren and family because we would be that filthy rich… ahhh… dreams….

Lotteries were made illegal in the 1890’s (forget the yr) States rights allow States to run their own lottery.
Reason Lotteries were made illegal? Worst payback of any gambling.
NY Lottery takes 50% off the pool of “voluntary tax” dollars.
The rest loses a percentage for overhead. a few percent.
Then the ‘prizes’ are ‘awarded’. And taxed, Fed and State.
State makes out on the chumps who play, and those folks are the ones who can least afford it.

And if you view the winners histories, it is so sad.
Remember the two guys from NY who won, and did ads for a few years? One invested, the other was so broke, he had to do the ads to survive. Blew it all.

It’s scary to think about that much money. I think about those TV shows about how winning the lottery ruined people’s lives, and I wish for a nice, boring program about people who win the lottery and live uneventfully and contentedly ever after.

I’d rather win a smaller amount. Just enough to make some upgrades to our house and start a small business.

I honestly like to believe that I wouldn’t go crazy with the money – I’m not really that type of person to begin with. I would pay off mine and my boyfriends student loans, buy our house, help our parents pay off the rest of their mortgages, take a nice vacation, and donate a bit to the schools I work at for things for the students. I’d probably still keep working, cause I love my job… but maybe I’d do part time or something so I can relax just a little bit :)

Quit job, pay off bills, set up family and close friends, travel, move someplace that’s beautiful all year round, pay for air conditioning for the Cohoes Public Library, buy a brand new car, donate to charities I think actually make a difference, and I agree with #15 – set up trust fund and live off the interest. I live off very little now, so the interest would be a gold mine to me.

I’d invest everything in tax free munis just so that it is always there….and I’d live off of the 7 to 9 Million dollars the investments generate. There is no way $7M annually wouldn’t keep me beyond happy…heck, I’d have millions of dollars left over every year!

Well 1st, you have to give the Main Man his due…Then I would open up a Factory that I have had in mind for a couple of years now which would put about 500 people to work making everything from a style of clothing to some Cooking needs and train some honest people to take over the operation. Then I would find that perfect Property with a lake, buy it, and then build the perfect house on it and then go fishing.

I put $1 in for our office pool. I know this is going to sound strange, but I would rather win on a $1,000 a week for life scratch off than win the big mega millions. I think it would be a huge headache to win the mega millions. People would be coming out of the woodwork asking for money.

My co-workers giggle at me when I tell them what I would do if I won the Mega Millions, (we all pitched in as well for a ticket, I do it only if it’s gonna be a big win). They all talk about vacations, and buying boats and cars and shopping sprees. Here is my lotto plan.

1) Square away all my bills and any bills my husband has so we can be bill free.

2) Give money to my sister to help her out with her student loans so she won’t have to worry about them after she graduates college, and help her get started on her musical path.

3) Give my younger brother and his fiance the wedding they deserve. After they lost everything in the flood that almsot wiped out Middleburgh I wanna make sure his bills are taken care of and he won’t have to worry about not being able to take care of things.

4) Give money to my parents for being awesome and raising me. :) Take care of their bills as well along with my Grandma.

5) Get savings bonds for my older brother’s kids that they won’t be able to cash until they are 21. Hopefully they will be responsible enough to handle that by then.

6) The rest would go in the bank. I have no need for boats, or cars, or a fancy mansion. I mean yeah I will maybe treat myself to a nice, well deserved vacation I mean who wouldn’t. But I wouldn’t want having a ton of money to change me. I will still put others before myself. Money can change people, sometimes turn them into snobs and sometimes not. I would never let that happen to me if I won.

I don’t normally buy lottery tickets, but EVERY single person in my office put in for the pool. Since I don’t want to be the only one holding down the fort, I was strong-armed into putting my dollar in too ;) Besides, I could use some extra money. I’d buy the house I’m sick of looking for, pay off all my student loans, give some away, and put the rest in a bank account to sit and wait for later in life, or to give to my future unborn children when I die.

I would:
1. Pay off all student loans for me and my Fiance
2. Pay off my sisters loans and the rest of her schooling through the law school of her choice.
3. Set up all of my family members in our own dream homes (me, parents, sister, and Fiancé’s parents)
4. Set up businesses for both me and my fiance. This is something both of us have wanted anyway, we just don’t have the money. Also, these businesses would employ many of our friends who are looking for jobs.
5. Purchase brand new cars for the people I care about.
6. Add some cool stuff to my July wedding, though nothing major, I’m pretty happy with it.
7. Take a really nice honeymoon.
8. Give a nice vacation to my parents, they deserve it.
9. Set any money left aside for my future children.

Pay off all outstanding debts (mortgage and what’s left on the cars). Move. Travel. Set up trusts for both my parents and in-laws so they could retire comfortably tomorrow. And, donate heavily to animal welfare organizations.

#28 – ha! Touche! Love it.
I’d pay off all our debts, burn our house and all its contents and start over by building a house that is truly ours. It would have its own yoga studio, library/music room, movie theater and HUGE kitchen. I’d hire a personal chef to cook healthy meals. After spreading some of the wealth around my family, I’d make large donations to charities that could use the money to make this world a more tolerable place to live in.

I’d do exactly what that woman in Rhode Island did after she won $300 million last month…take a few weeks to surround myself with a good team of financial advisors and lawyers and set up a serious game plan for the future.

First task at hand, relocate. Then I’d take a vacation, for a month or two, with close family and friends and just take it all in…hopefully by the time I get back, my fully customized Range Rovers would be ready.

I would do all the usual things like pay off our house, set up trusts for the kids, etc. But one of the first things I would do would be to build my mother-in-law a house nearby, move her out of our house, and hire people to take care of her so my husband can do something else (anything else).

Get kids set up for life. Save lives of animals (s/n clinics and no no-kills, plus student education). Buy more property. Travel more often. I might buy a black Beemer…but I’m a cheapskate and still have to think about it.

Payoff debt, get my house renovated to my specs, be sure I have a brand new vehicle, finally go on a honeymoon with my hubby of 18 years, get my mom a condo, and oh yeah tell work to take this job and shove it!!!

I’d get rid of my house phone, cell phone, facebook page (don’t really use it anyway) and like many others, I’d pay off all of my bills. Then I’d tell my parents / mother in law it’s time to retire (since healthcare costs woudn’t be a concern anymore) so I can watch them enjoy themselves.

I’d buy some property somewhere where the traffic will take years to follow me. After I was done building my dream house, my husband’s dream garage and getting a couple of new cars to go with the two I won’t part with, I’d put the rest in a non-interest bearing account so the gov’t can’t have anymore of it. :) They will get enough from me.

I basically never play lotteries, having been raised with the oft-voiced opinion of my father, who said lotteries are taxes on stupid people. But for $1, yeah, I gave in.

Our office has 60 people in it. 44 of us are in the pool! IF we won, it would mean, after taxes, about $70K each. Hmm, well that’s enough to pay off a few debts, replace one of our cars with something newer, give some to our favorite charities and pay for a vacation. Not enough to quit my job, darn it . . .

Now, if I were to win on my own, well, here’s some of what I’d do . . .
1. QUIT my job.
2. Hire a lawyer, an accountant & hand a bunch of it over to our investment advisor. Consult with our mentors on good investments.
3. Pay off all our debts.
4. Set up an education fund for our grandchildren. Set up a trust for our kids, to guarantee them a reasonable standard of living.
5. Buy a vacation home someplace that’s warm in the winter.
6. Fix up our current home, hand the keys to our kids and buy/build our dream home for ourselves.
7. Donate gobs and gobs of it to our church, favorite charities and so on.
8. Buy a plane for hubby, and a catamaran-style yacht for me.
9. Pay off a loan my family made to our kids.
10. Put a masseuse on retainer.
11. Take a vacation a month for at least a year.
12. Buy a coach-style motor home.

My first thoughts are setting up my daughter and parents for life – then share a bit w/the rest of the fam. I’d pay off my house and debts and then renovate it (I just bought it and truly don’t want to move again!) Why move? Just buy an additional home in a warm, sunny location. Travel. I would donate to several organizations: CF, breast cancer, St. Jude and animal shelters to name a few. I would quit my job – 27 years is enough – I’m vested, I’m good, I can afford full share health insurance for ten years :) Our office collected $2/person and bought $100 worth of tixs. We had 4 peeps say no to going in on the pool – sure hope one or two of them are here to hold down the fort Monday! So much fun to dream…

Are you crazy?!? I love betting on horses at the track- and usually win money because of my trick. ;) (No- it’s not illegal). My dad gave in $2 for the college office pool- I hope he and his coworkers win! :D

Unfortunately, the chances of winning is 1 in 170 million…and increasing. I’ll still cross my fingers for Dad.

If I won the $500 million, I could finish high school at my school, go to any college I wanted, buy a car, and a house. I’d save the rest for a rainy day.

First thing I’d do…help the homeless man that begs for money off exit 5 of I-90 *every* morning. I can’t take feeling guilty as I drive by on my way to work. Then I’d build my dream house off of everything I “pin” on Pinterest.

I would be so happy to harness the potential to be philanthropic. I had two children who were cared for at the neonatal intensive care unit at Albany Medical Center and it would be a dream for me to give an impactful gift there. I would also want to help Ronald McDonald House to rehab and attach the house they purchased next door to accommodate additional families. I would want to help the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society where I adopted the most amazing dog I ever had. I would also celebrate my years at SUNY Albany with gifts to the humanities and business departments from which I received my degrees. And of course, I would help my family and friends. My job is very stressful – while I love the people I work with, I don’t think I would work as much as I do now. I would like to get involved with a not-for-profit and volunteer on a regular basis instead.